A Twist of Circumstance
by Soraya the All Speaker
Summary: What if Tsunade hadn't let Jiraiya go to Ame? What if she went in his place? Series of connected oneshots.
1. A Twist of Circumstance

Taken from my other story, Tales of the Leaves. Hope you enjoy.

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><p>A Twist of Circumstance<p>

Tsunade looked back at her – once hated – beloved village one more time before slipping out the gates. She couldn't, she refused, to let Jiraiya put his life in danger on a reconnaissance mission he knew was suicide. Their conversation on the bench had just proven that.

She didn't think he would have fallen for the same trick twice, but the _sake _she had given him for a goodbye present had been liberally laced with a drug that would render him unconscious until long after she was gone. The note she had left beside him would make sure he looked after Konoha in her absence.

It wasn't that long a trip to Ame, maybe five days tops. She took it at all possible speed, pushing her body to its utmost limit without collapsing. She refused to let someone destroy her world, and she refused to let one of the three people left in her world that she loved be killed finding out more about the egomaniac running the show.

The moment she passed the border Tsunade noticed the pervasive rain. Ame had always been a wet country, she knew that from fighting in the place decades ago. Jiraiya had hypothesized it was the sky crying for the battlefield the country had become.

But this rain was different. Heavier, denser, and even just the tiniest bit sticky – not like the sky's tears. So when the first piece of white paper blew past her, she wasn't surprised.

"Senju Tsunade, _Godaime Hokage_ of Konoha, what are you doing here?" whispered a voice on the wind, coming from all directions. More pieces of paper began to float in, circling the blonde woman. "Why are you not back in your village, preparing for its demise?"

Tsunade stood in the center of the circle, poised and ready for any attack. "Because I refuse to accept such a fate without changing it."

The papers paused at that, then all converged on the same spot, layering themselves until the form of a woman became visible. She had dark blue hair done up in a bun with a paper flower pinned to it, a lip piercing, and heavy eyes done up with eye shadow that only accentuated their depth. All her nails were tinted black.

"Why have you come here?" she asked again, her voice not echoing from each individual paper now, but from her body, the question curious now.

"To protect the man I love," Tsunade answered cryptically, eyes tracing the woman's face. She knew it from somewhere. Somewhere in this country.

Her opponent's face remained smooth, but understanding was echoed in her eyes. "Then you know why I am here as well. What do you protect him from?"

"Anything that would hurt him." _Anything but me_. Why was she even talking about this? It got her nowhere. The memory of where she knew the woman from was jiggling just at the edges of her memory…

"Jiraiya-_sensei_ said the same about you." Oh. That was where. The woman was one of the three orphans they had found all those years ago.

Wait. "Jiraiya said what about me?"

Konan's eyes drilled into hers. "I too protect. You understand I cannot let you past this point."

"You understand I can't let you keep me here."

"Then we understand each other perfectly." More papers flapped in the air, melding to Konan's back in the form of huge paper wings. "I am the Angel of _Amegakure_, and I _will _protect my god!"

Tsunade swiped her thumb across her mouth, breaking the skin with a quick nip. She slammed her hand down onto the wet ground, calling out "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_ With a huge cloud of smoke, a giant blue slug appeared under her. "I am the _Hokage_ of _Konohagakure_, and I will protect all I hold dear."

She didn't know how long the battle lasted. Neither gained the upper hand for the longest time, fighting there at the border of Ame. Katsuyu had long returned to her home, to nurse wounds and regain her own _chakra_. Tsunade dodged paper, slashed at it, healed herself, and fought some more. Konan was no longer able to fly around, and instead was engaged in a joint _taijutsu ninjutsu_ battle with Tsunade.

It was a purely lucky strike that decided the battle. Blood poured out of Tsunade's chest where she had been run through by Konan's paper sword, even as her fist punched a hole through where Konan's right lung was.

Instead of the normal flesh, her body seemed to be composed of paper in entirety, leaving the edges of the hole ripped and torn. Konan stumbled where she stood, then looked at Tsunade with eyes that shone with…relief?

"You know how I feel. Do not dishonor my last wish. Please…when you see Nagato…let him know…how I felt…" Her body dissolved into paper, floating away on the wind and becoming soaked through with rain before disintegrating.

Tsunade panted for breath, bracing herself until she was forced to fall forward first onto her knees, then all fours. The battle had taken all she had.

"Maybe…in another life…we could have been friends. In another world, where war doesn't exist…" she whispered to the water soaked rock below her, hoping Konan could still hear her on the wind. "I will honor your wish…"

Sopping tendrils of blonde hair fell about her face as she remained there, fighting for the strength to get up. She _would_ return to Konoha. She had protected the man she loved. Her mission was complete. For now.


	2. Battle to Protect

Battle to Protect

Tsunade pushed herself up off the ground as soon as the hot fire of healing _chakra_ finished coursing through her veins. She couldn't stop now. Every second she spent meant one more second the enemy could use to find out her location. Konan's god no doubt had a way of tracking everyone in _Amegakure_, and he was the one she needed to find. But it had to be on her terms, not his.

Moving was painful, and the stab wound was only healed superficially, but she could fight. She _would _fight, because she wasn't done yet. Everything Konan had said only confirmed what she had already known – Ame was dangerous, and she had to figure out exactly what it was going to do.

That pervasive ran got into her eyes as she ran over rock, speeding past the burned husks of buildings whose only crime was to be too close to the border. She stuck to those demolished areas, free of people who might see her and report her presence, or get caught up in a fight that could happen at any time.

She lost track of time as she headed deeper into enemy territory, only conscious of underlying fatigue despite the _chakra_ and blood replenishing pill she took, and a low throb of pain beginning around the stab wound.

The only warning she had of an attack was the whistling. She jumped to the side, barely dodging an odd spike of black metal that quivered deep in the stone in front of her.

"You have come far. You will go no further," intoned a deep voice from behind her. The blonde spun around and saw a man with spiky orange hair, studded with piercings in his nose, ears, and mouth, facing her. His hand was outstretched, and a piece of black protruded from his palm.

"Are you the so called god of Ame?" Tsunade called, eyes on the figure. It didn't budge an inch. "I've heard about you."

"I _am_ the god of Ame," came another voice from her right. A very large figure with more orange hair stepped out of the shadows. "And I will take away all the pain in the world."

"Oh?" she cocked an eyebrow, although she remained poised for any movements the figures may make. "Which one of you should I believe?"

"_We are one_," they said together, each taking a simultaneous step closer…and revealing a third.

_Not good not good…_she hadn't expected to face more than one – maybe extremely powerful – enemy. Now she was completely out matched.

"What is it you value most in this world, _Hokage_ of Konoha?" asked the third figure, with waist long orange hair. She was sensing a theme.

Tsunade didn't even have to think. "The lives of the people of my village."

"And what would you do to protect them?" pushed the same man, regarding her with ringed purple eyes.

"Anything at all."

"Would you go to war for them?"

"Yes."

"Wrong answer," came a fourth voice, directly behind her. A white hot stab of pain lanced through her shoulder, and Tsunade stumbled forward clutching at the metal rod embedded in the joint. With a jerk she wrenched it free, sending it clattering onto the rock in front of her. "It is views like yours that cause the pain our world suffers from. I will cure this pain, and the world will be at peace."

"Oh yeah? How?" she panted, taking cautious steps backwards towards a cliff wall behind her. If she pushed enough _chakra_, she could jump to the top of that cliff…

"By causing the world to be reborn." The answer was said in a matter of fact voice, but nothing about it was simple. "The slate will be wiped clean and united under one power."

"That will solve nothing!" came a strong voice from the top of the wall Tsunade was backing towards. A figure in red and green plummeted towards the ground, landing right in front of the blonde woman.

"Jiraiya-_sensei_." There was no note of surprise in the voice, only resignation. "You should not have come. Now you will die along with the woman who killed the one person I held dear." A spark of anger was lit in the tone. "Loss. I will eliminate loss."

"She died to protect you," Tsunade shot back. "The least you could do is honor her sacrifice! She knew what she was doing." She pushed past Jiraiya, not letting his restraining arm stop her. "Are you going to take it out on me? _Fine_. Just like an avenger. _Nagato_."

She saw Jiraiya do a double take, inspecting the figures around him. "Nagato, don't do this. I taught you –"

"You taught me to protect all I hold dear!" No more was the all-knowing patient tone of before. This one held strangled rage and pain, directed at the two Konoha _shinobi_. "And that is precisely what I intend to do."

Three figures shot towards the pair, one firing off a water _jutsu_. Jiraiya countered with a well-timed fire _jutsu_, even as Tsunade jumped into the air to deal a punishing kick to a figure attacking from above. He flew backwards, landing lightly on a rock shelf some hundred meters away.

"If she's dead, you aren't protecting anything!" Jiraiya yelled, ducking under a slash of metal from the third man. "If you want to end suffering, begin with yourself!"

"You can't understand my pain, _sensei_," Nagato proclaimed, voice issuing from the first figure to appear, which had remained back from the fight. "But," his eyes narrowed on Tsunade. "I will make you understand the pain she inflicted on me!"

One figure slapped his hand down on the rock, and a truly monstrous beast emerged, a warped brown dog that howled like a coyote. It lunged at Tsunade, who was barely able to dodge in her weakened state.

"_No_!" Jiraiya's yell was full of rage, mirroring that of Nagato earlier. He slapped his hand down on the rock as well, summoning a large toad with a trident and a huge shield. "Can you protect us?"

"Though I may be large and clumsy," the toad responded in a slow voice, "I will do my best."

"Good enough." Jiraiya grabbed Tsunade by the arm, pulling her behind the toad with him as the dog attacked, teeth snapping uselessly against the shield. "This is a fight we cannot win," he whispered fervently. "We must retreat."

Her head felt exceptionally light and his face was moving back and forth in front of her. "But…"

"No. I won't let you die here fighting for some useless shred of information." He yanked her to the side again as the toad crashed backwards, now two dogs snapping at him."Gamaken!"

"Yes, Jiraiya?" called the toad as he pushed off the cliff wall.

"Cover us." When the five figures of Nagato heard those words, each moved forward a step.

"I will not –" " –let you escape –" " –with your lives." "You fall –" " –here."

"Nagato, I thought once you would understand what I meant about protecting that which is dearest to you. But now…" Jiraiya trailed off, running through a series of quick hand seals. "It's too late."

"_No_!" the enraged cry issued from all mouths at once, and bars of metal shot at the pair as they began to disappear. Three hit Tsunade – once in the chest, and two in the legs. She collapsed immediately, coughing, and it was only Jiraiya's hand grasping her arm tightly that kept her from falling completely.

"Hang on…" was the last thing she heard, as her body barely registered the ceasing of rain and feeling of warmth that was swept away by the cold chill that overcame her body. Then her world went black.


	3. Reasons

Reasons

She blinked blearily, eyes barely cracking open to see only white. Her body was oddly numb – she couldn't feel any of her extremities.

_Am I dead?_

"No," came a voice from beside her conversationally. "But as soon as you get better you will be."

_Jiraiya?_

She turned her head slowly, watching as colors began to move then come into focus to reveal her teammate lounging in a chair, hands clasped over his stomach.

"So you're awake," he continued, a very odd smile on his face. "But you see, I don't think you're sane. Because if you were, you would never have left me that note. You would never have gone to take on two very dangerous people on your own. And you sure as _hell_ would never have _almost died!_" His voice rose in crescendo with each point, until he was stabbing an accusing finger at you. "So now, if you would care to _explain_ yourself?"

Tsunade wet dried lips with her tongue, not sure where to start. He was _pissed_. That much was evident in the sparking of his black eyes and the way his knuckles were white. But he was also worried.

Just as she opened her mouth to begin – where, she didn't know – the door slid open with a bang and a tornado of blond energy barreled in. "Is she awake? You said you would tell me when she woke up!"

"See for yourself," the older man pointed at the bed, and Naruto's blue eyes immediately snapped to her face. She met his gaze the best she could, but had to look away.

"Why did you do it?" Naruto asked softly, his whole demeanor changing. "You knew you would die, so why did you go?"

"Because I had to protect everyone," she stated, not looking at her two boys. "I had to protect you, and this village."

"You could just as easily have sent someone else!" Jiraiya cut in heatedly, standing up so she had to look at him. "You could have sent anyone! I was _going_ to go!"

"No I couldn't have!" she shot back, golden eyes snapping around to meet his. "The only other person who could do this, who would have known enough, would have been you. And _I couldn't lose you_."

"You think I care about that? I'm not as important as you, Tsunade! I need you, Naruto needs you, Sakura needs you, this whole village needs you! The only people that need me are you and Naruto. You know which is the greater loss. And you drugged me anyway!"

"You almost died," Naruto cut into their argument, his forlorn voice stopping both teammates. "Shizune-_nee-chan_ said your heart stopped twice. She barely saved you, working with Sakura-_chan_ and Ino. Why?"

This time she had no answer.

"Why did you go alone? Why couldn't you have trusted one of us to come along too? Then you wouldn't have…"

"Two is too noticeable," Jiraiya answered for her. "It had to be one. It _should_ have been me."

"And you would have died." Her voice was flat, matter of fact. "I survived because you came after me, even though I told you not to. You would have had no one coming for you. You would have died there in Ame, and that is unacceptable."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his blond hair and making it stand up more than it already was. "This is going nowhere. _You_," he pointed a finger at Tsunade, "shouldn't have left. _You_," now the finger was pointed at Jiraiya, "saved her. Now _I_," he pointed both thumbs at himself, "am going to go get some ramen. _Ja ne_." The boy walked out the door, one hand raised in a lazy goodbye.

Tsunade couldn't see him leave, from her spot lying down on the bed, but Jiraiya chuckled. "Always a surprise, that boy. Just when you think he'll go off half-cocked, he proves to be the voice of reason."

Tsunade let out a small laugh too, then hissed when the movement sent sparks of pain shooting through her torso and legs.

"What's wrong, anesthesia wearing off?" Jiraiya asked immediately, concerned. He pushed a button on the side of her bed, one that would summon Shizune.

"Yeah…I think," Tsunade ground out. "How badly was I hurt? I know the stab wound…"

"You also suffered a major puncture to your stomach, the severing of the femoral artery in your right leg, and shattered femur in your left. The only thing that saved you was Jiraiya getting you back here in time. Even then we were going through two packets of blood every five minutes to keep you alive," Shizune's calm voice came from the door. "Those, on top of the two stab wounds on your torso caused your brain to overload, and simply shut down. You lost a quarter of your blood before getting here."

"Oh." Now she knew why Jiraiya had been so worried and angry. She really shouldn't have survived.

"It was a blessing you had already knit the skin of the first stab wound," Shizune continued, "or we would have had almost no chance of saving you. Even then, it was a twenty one hour surgery, and we will need to do two more major healings to make sure your leg is fully usable. You are _not_ to use that rebirth seal of yours to help this either." Tsunade shifted her eyes to the side, wondering how on earth her assistant knew what she was thinking. "Because I know _you_."

"Fine."

"Now, she has to sleep," the raven told Jiraiya, all business. "You can come back and yell at her another day, but her body needs time to recuperate."

As the medic moved to push some medicine into her body through a tube in her hand, Tsunade interrupted. "Wait. Who is taking care of the village?" She had to know.

"Kakashi and I," Jiraiya informed her. "Most of the village doesn't even know you were gone, they just think you've been spending tons of time in the hospital."

"Oh…that's good…" she subsided, and Shizune pushed the drug into her system. She felt it take effect immediately, as the world grew lighter and disconnected. "Sorry….couldn't lose…you…" she managed to get out, just before the world became all encompassing white that faded to familiar black.


	4. Battle for Konoha

Pharix wondered how the Pein Invasion would change now...you're about to find out =)

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><p>Battle for Konoha<p>

"Tsunade-_sama_!"

The shout startled her out of her reverie, remembering that last flash of memory before all had faded into black in Ame – six pairs of eyes burning with vengeance, and six voices screaming the same sound of pain.

"Yes? What is it?" She brought her mind back to the present, focusing her eyes on her assistant in front of her.

"Jiraiya-_sama_ is back, with urgent news."

"Send him in." Her teammate had been off gathering information on Nagato and what he intended to do. She also personally suspected it was to keep from tying her up to a bed for the rest of her natural life as punishment for scaring the crap out of him.

The raven bowed out of the office, and moments later Jiraiya entered, Naruto following him.

"You can't be here," Tsunade told the blond bluntly. "This is top secret."

"No, he should be here, this concerns him," Jiraiya contradicted her firmly, his voice tired. His clothing was travel stained and ripped in places, white hair hanging down his back in a tangled mess.

"Oh?" She steepled her fingers in front of her mouth and regarded the two males in front of her. "Then report."

"Nagato – known as Pein – has lost his mind," Jiraiya began. "He has disbanded Akatsuki, and from what I heard, called them all incompetent fools. He has given up hunting for the Kyuubi, and none of the former members have any desire to."

Naruto punched the air at that. "They gave up? That's great!"

"Not so great," the toad sage responded solemnly. "Instead he's fixated on a new target; Konoha. He's on his way here now."

Tsunade started. "Now?"

"I have maybe six hours on him," Jiraiya nodded wearily. "All six of his bodies – Paths, as they are known – are on their way here. We have to prepare."

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked, and the door to her office immediately swung open. She didn't wait for her assistant to acknowledge her. "Alert all ANBU, tell them there is a dangerous enemy outside our walls. Send all _jounin _here, immediately!"

"_Hai_, Tsunade-_sama_!" Shizune affirmed smartly, disappearing from the door again.

"You two," the _Hokage_ pointed at both males in front of her. "Stay for the briefing. We have to keep Pein from entering Konoha if at all possible."

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><p>Five and a half hours and lots of questions later, many of the villagers were being evacuated by the <em>genin<em> of Konoha, while ANBU and _jounin_ manned the walls, other _jounin_ patrolling the inside of the village, in case one managed to slip through.

It wasn't hard to see where the bodies passed; from her perch on top of the _Hokage_ Tower, Tsunade could see a trail of destruction in the distance, wending its way towards her village. Jiraiya stood next to her, hands clasped behind his back.

"You can't fight this one," he remarked off hand, not looking at her.

"I know," she said just as casually, although she was itching to. It may be selfish, but she would rather fight and die than have to live with the desolation that would occur after whatever fights ended.

Jiraiya studied her out of the corner of his eye. He had known her for five decades, and in that time she had made him laugh, cry, shout, and about every emotion in between – some with more frequency than others. But he loved her. "_Love really is blind_," he whispered under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"No…I should get to the wall, make sure they're doing fine," he abruptly changed the subject. He didn't wait for her nod to go, but disappeared off the roof.

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><p>"Sir! Six enemies approaching quickly!" an ANBU snapped out the moment Jiraiya arrived at the walls surrounding the village. "Preparing defensive maneuvers!"<p>

Jiraiya gave a tense nod, keeping his eyes on the approaching figures. One was distinctly in the lead, a man with long orange hair held in a ponytail at the top of his head. He sped towards the wall, seeming to not even see the obstacle.

"Release!" Jiraiya barked, and from seven different positions on the wall various _jutsu_ and weapons shot forward at the figure. It dodged all easily and kept coming, the other five relentless behind it. "Keep them all away!"

More efforts were aimed at the five orange haired figures in the back, lessening the barrage on the first. He leapt over the wall and all on it, dodging yet more attacks.

"Intercept him!" roared the _Sannin_, and obediently four men broke off to chase and subdue the interloper. The other five outside the gate suddenly halted. When some forces would have left the wall to engage them in combat, Jiraiya motioned them to stay.

"Sir?" one of the ANBU questioned.

"Trust me," he replied grimly.

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><p>Naruto chased the intruder into their village with a dog-minded intensity. There was <em>no way<em> he was going to let anyone hurt his village or those who inhabited it.

The man he was chasing didn't return any attacks they fired at him, but seemed to be uncannily good at dodging wire and other traps that were set in his path. He gestured to Neji, who was to his right, and the _jounin_ nodded and moved accordingly. Two seconds later a barrage of attacks meant to cut any _chakra_ to the body were unleashed, and the orange haired man stumbled.

But then Neji recoiled, dodging a wave of flame, and retreated next to Naruto. "I closed the _tenketsu_, but it seems he is receiving _chakra_ through those piercings in his face. I can't stop it."

_Kuso_. Naruto nodded his thanks to Neji, then glared at the back of the man they were chasing through the village. _How do we stop him?_

It seemed they didn't have to. The man came to a sudden stop of his own accord in middle of the empty street, and ran through a series of hand seals.

_That looked like summoning…_

With five puffs of smoke, the other five enemies appeared next to the original.

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><p>Jiraiya was readying his forces to combat any moves their opponents would make, when they suddenly disappeared. "What –"<p>

"Sir!" A _jounin_ pointed towards the center of the village, where the four figures of the men he had sent after the first infiltrator suddenly flew into the air. They were followed by three of the Paths who had just been outside the walls.

"_Kuso_. Twenty of you, stay here in case it's a trick! The rest of you, come with me!" Jiraiya took off, followed by about fifty of Konoha's finest.

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><p>Tsunade watched from her tower with dismay as the Paths gained access to her village. They were grouped in one of the main streets, and she could see four <em>shinobi<em> trying to fight them. And failing miserably. They were extraordinarily fast, and seemed to have no blind spots she could see. Whenever an attack looked as though it was going to hit one, another intercepted it and sent an attack back, or the target jumped out of the way.

"They are death," came a whispered voice from behind her, carried on the wind.

She spun around defensively, immediately at the ready, and saw no one there.

"You are responsible for the death they deal," continued that voice, and she looked around, trying to pinpoint the source. "Without your actions, this would not have happened."

A figure was falling towards her now, from the top of the cliff that rose behind the building she stood on. The same cliff the _Hokage_ Monument was carved on. It landed with a thump, a person clad in a black cloak, with odd metal rods sticking out of his back like a porcupine. She wasn't sure how he was able to move, except he took steps towards her.

"Who are you?"

"I am Pein. I am death. I am Nagato. _I am your destroyer!" _Lank red hair hung around his face, and his eyes held a demented gleam, accentuated by their rings. "You killed her, so you must die!"

Tsunade eyed the figure, even as one hand crept towards the _kunai_ holster on her leg. "Konan?"

"Yes, the angel!" he howled, throwing his head back and bearing his teeth in a rictus grin. "The one…"

"It was me or her. You were a _shinobi_, you know how it must end."

"With your death!" His eyes were wide, unseeing. "She protected me…and you killed her for it!"

"She swore to protect you, and I swore to protect my own! She knew why we fought, and put her life on the line anyway!" Tsunade paused, then added, "She _loved_ you."

Suddenly his head snapped back down, and his eyes glared at her with a fevered gleam. "Love? Love? What is love? Love only causes pain! You have caused my pain! _You killed her!" _A scream of complete unadulterated rage and pain issued from his mouth, loud enough Tsunade flinched back. He slammed his hands on the ground, crouching with black spikes from his back sticking up in the air. "_Kuchiyose: Gedou Mazou!"_

She felt the building under her feet rumble, and saw cracks beginning in the cliffs she was facing. Two large hands forced their way out of a crevice that formed between the _Nidaime _and _Sandaime_ _Hokage_faces, then the cliff was yanked apart, and a truly monstrous beast reared its head. It wore a piece of white cloth covering its eyes, and what looked like tree stumps grew out of its back. The thing planted its hands on either side of the monument and loomed over Nagato where he stood.

As Tsunade watched in fascination, a rod of the same black metal that was found on all the other protruded from the creature's chest and shot towards Nagato, fusing with all the rods sticking out of his back.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya ducked under a massive fist from one of the Paths, as Naruto launched another rasengan at the attacker.<p>

"How long…can we keep this up?" the blond panted, landing next to the _Sannin_. "Even in sage mode…" his eyes were oddly slitted, a benefit of his time spent on Mount Myouboku. Two Paths were dead, but many more of their own _jounin_ were heavily injured, unable to fight anymore. He and Jiraiya were the two heavy hitters left.

"As long as we need to," Jiraiya grunted back, then ran through some hand seals. "_Katon: -_" he didn't finish as the Path collapsed to the ground as though its strings had been cut. "What?"

"The _Hokage _Monument!" Naruto shouted, eyes drawn to a large figure that now crouched over the _Hokage_ Tower, protruding from the Monument. Rods of metal extended from it, all meeting at one point.

* * *

><p>Tsunade could see the bones sticking out of Nagato's skin already, and whatever flesh he had left was swiftly receding. But he let out another yell, and a long serpentine dragon rushed out of his summons' mouth; purple and glowing. She didn't know what it could do, but didn't want it to hit her so she could find out.<p>

As the dragon headed straight towards her, jaws bared, she jumped up and to the side, barely missing the spikes on its back as she pushed off one of the ribs that surrounded the roof of the _Hokage_ Tower. The dragon shot past, tail whipping behind, and she landed in front of Nagato, out of range of the creature, and wary of the dragon. Tsunade shot a _kunai_ at him, but was deflected by some – thing – that also came out of the monster's mouth. She didn't dare get close to punch him as she didn't know its capabilities.

"I will take your soul," he hissed, eyes fixing on hers, and she saw the dragon come roaring back, passing her open window. Papers flapped out of it, brought along and pushed by the breeze the dragon caused, and brushed past the woman.

One flew straight at Nagato, right at his face. He froze, eyes following its path right until the moment it plastered itself across his features. The dragon stopped in its tracks, hanging in the air as though confused.

The _Hokage_ refused to let that opportunity pass. In an instant she crossed the roof, one fist drawn back and all of her _chakra_ channeled into it. She slammed it into the left side of his chest, snapping brittle bones with ease.

"No…" the paper fell away, and Nagato once again looked directly at her. "I came…to get my…revenge…" his voice was raspy, fading. The dragon behind her moved forward once more, but this time his control was jerky. The rods in his back crumbled and broke off from the monster, which disappeared in a huge puff of smoke, along with the dragon. "Konan…"

Tsunade watched impassively as the redheaded man collapsed forward onto the roof of her residence, and the rods in his back all crumbled and disintegrated, leaving only a much emancipated body dressed in a black robe.

"To protect…" she muttered, looking at the person Konan had fought to protect. "Would you have rather seen him live on like this, or to join you? I know which I would choose."

* * *

><p>"You killed my student."<p>

"I had no choice."

"I know…" Jiraiya sighed. "It shouldn't have come to this. He was supposed to save the world…not destroy himself for vengeance. It's my –"

"It's not your fault, _Ero-sennin_," Naruto interrupted him, coming up behind the two where they stood, looking over the ruined village.

The Paths had wreaked havoc on the village before being cut off by Nagato redirecting all his power to defeating Tsunade, mad as he was. There were fires everywhere, and the husks of burned down buildings. The _Hokage_ Monument had been cracked into pieces, with only half of Hashirama's face still intact out of the five that had once resided there.

"He chose his path, you didn't choose for him," the blond continued. "You did everything you could to try to set him on the right one."

All Jiraiya gave in response was a mute nod; it was obvious to both blondes he still blamed himself. "Konoha has burned to embers…"

"But like a phoenix we shall rise again…" Tsunade offered.

"Following the Will of Fire," Naruto finished.


	5. Tokens of the Three

Tokens of the Three

Jiraiya stood next to Tsunade, one arm over her shoulders to keep upright. His left leg was in a brace, broken from when he slammed into a wall – courtesy of one of the Paths' punches.

On the ground in front of them was a rock, unmarked, standing alone.

"Where did I go wrong?" he whispered quietly. "Where did I fail him? He was my student, my responsibility…he was going to save the world."

"You did the best you could. You trained him to be a _shinobi_, you taught him what you believed," Tsunade responded, rubbing a comforting hand down Jiraiya's back.

"But I left him there in Ame; him, Konan, and Yahiko. Now all of them are dead. I should have brought them back with me…I could have protected them here…"

Tsunade sighed. "You told me yourself when you came back they refused to leave their country, they wanted to liberate it. They were adults, Jiraiya. They made their choices."

He didn't meet her eyes, choosing instead to look around the clearing they had placed the grave in; far away from Konoha and any who might stumble upon it.

With another sigh his teammate began walking towards a tree, forcing Jiraiya to move as well, or risk falling. Wordlessly she shrugged out from under his arm, making sure he was braced well before turning to leave.

"When you decide…come back."

Jiraiya nodded, bringing his eyes back to the rock in the middle of the clearing, marking where they had buried his long ago student. The one he had identified most with, who was going to do great things…who he thought had died nearly a decade ago.

* * *

><p><em>Jiraiya stood next to his two teammates, looking at the three orphans in front of them.. They were small and pitiful, all three very thin and wearing rain gear, complete with gas masks.<em>

_"We should kill them, and put them out of their misery," Orochimaru stated, drawing a kunai in preparation. Even Tsunade looked troubled, agreeing with him._

_"No, I'll stay behind and look after them," Jiraiya interrupted firmly. There was something in those three he recognized, a will to live despite deplorable conditions._

_"Very well."_

* * *

><p><em>Nagato sat on the roof of their home, soaked through by the persistent rain. Konan and Yahiko were below, both sleeping after a hard day of training.<em>

_Jiraiya climbed up next to Nagato, sitting quietly with his student. "What's wrong?"_

_The boy didn't answer, burying his head on his knees instead. A couple tears trickled down his cheeks._

_"Is this because of earlier?"_

_"I lost control." His voice was muffled. "When Yahiko got hurt…I don't remember what happened. But when I could see…the enemy was on the ground, and he was dead. I did that…all I wanted to do was protect Yahiko. But I didn't want to kill him."_

_Jiraiya sighed and sat back. "I can't tell you if what you did was right or wrong. But you protected your friend, and that's all that matters. Killing someone will lead to hate, yours or theirs. And hatred leads to pain. But it's knowing pain that makes us able to feel kindness."_

_"How do I do that?"_

_"You grow up."_

* * *

><p><em>Jiraiya stood stock still, reading the missive again and again. 'Ame rebellion leaders Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato are reported dead.' The Child of Prophecy is dead.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Should I have killed him back then?<em> he wondered. _Should I have let Orochimaru kill them all? None of this would have happened then. But…_fragments of memory, of their three smiling faces, flashed behind his eyes. _I don't know how the future could have turned out. It is what it is._

Jiraiya hobbled forward, barely touching his left leg to the ground. When he got to the rock, he reached inside his tunic, fishing for the item Tsunade had given him; something she had recovered.

The _Sannin_ placed it gently on the rock, along with one of the broken metal bars that had injured Tsunade.

"Goodbye, Nagato." Without looking back, he turned and limped away.

On the rock behind him, Konan's paper flower blew in the light breeze, marking the last tribute to his three students from Ame.


End file.
